The el’ Cubo Report’o Version 04.13.08

Weed. So just why is it that many outdoor (and some indoor) tracks across the country have such a large proportion of racers that insist on smoking weed during races?

Certainly rc racing is not set up for youth racers, as it caters more to the 30-something age set. But, rc racing should always be youth friendly, and being such, that means no illegal substances at the track. Yet, if you are a racer, it’s more common than not to see, or at least know about, a group of racers at your local track that “sneak” away between the heats to pull a little Cheech and Chong action in someones SUV. Are local tracks simply so desperate for entries that they kindly “overlook” this illegal activity? Are track directors so obtuse that they don’t even notice? Youth racers look up to the more mature racers in every way, from set-ups, to driving tips, to what they are doing out in the parking lot.

This is America, the finest country on this big hunk of rock, and it’s based on freedom. But, this issue isn’t about being “pro” or “anti” weed, it’s about setting a good example for the young men and women racing in our sport. What weed based racers do at home is their own business, what they do at the track is all our business. Track owners and club representatives- do the right thing, and encourage “that group” of people you have sneaking away to their SUV’s and vans to simply leave it at home. Get high on the racing at the track, get your other buzzes on at home.

Now, on to the product news of the week. Recently, Horizon/Losi introduced their Desert type truck. I complained about why they decided to introduce a truck in a non-existent genre? Well guess what, it looks like it will turn out to be a big summer for scale desert/short course trucks! Traxxas introduced their entry in this market last week, the Traxxas “Slash” short course truck. The “Slash” looks very much like a real CORR truck. It’s a 2wd off-road, electric.

Couple interesting notes here. The first being that it’s Electric! Traxxas are the kings of nitro, yet, on this mostly new platform, they decided to build on electric. Yet another sign that electric is on the way back up, and nitro on the way down. The second interesting note is that it’s one of the few on the market with an all metal transmission. You can look at every Associated and Losi electric, and see all kinds of plastic gears. On high power li-po and bl power, plastic gears equals transmission Death! So big props to Traxxas for going the extra mile and putting all metals gears in the Slash, it might actually stand a chance against 3S lithium power on a 600 watts brushless motor.

Onward I go to another subject entirely. Brian, editor-in-chief of BigSquidRC, and the guy that so nicely signs the checks, sent some hate mail my way this week. It seems that last week, I mentioned that a product was being sourced from Novak, when it wasn’t. So after getting some facts straight, if you want genuine Novak quality, make sure it’s orange and has Novak on it. If it looks like a Novak but has someone else’s name on it and is a different color, assume that it’s a back-engineered knock-off made in China and stay away like it’s a nest of killer bees.

That’s it for this week Cub-hounds. Keep your hands off the girl next to you (unless she’s your wife, then beg her to let you touch), leave the weed at home, support your local hobby shack, and get in some laps at your local track.